Gilera NGR250

The Gilera NGR250 is a very rare machine in the UK so I consider myself extremely lucky to have picked up a 1989 model for just a thousand notes two years ago. It was taking a bit of a chance buying such a rare model, if anything went wrong spares would be difficult and expensive to find but it was the only nice bike I'd come across in that price range, having viewed all manner of overpriced crap both in private and dealer sales.

I bought the Gilera from a guy in his thirties who had used it to come back into motorcycling before moving on to an EXUP. There was even a full service history, although that didn't really matter as on a modern stroker there is very little that needs doing. A full service had cost sixty notes, only worth doing to keep the guarantee valid, in my opinion.

Having done nearly 16000 miles in the time I've owned the bike I can conclude that the watercooled, two stroke single cylinder engine is basically a reliable unit. The most common problem has been fouled up spark plugs, a result of riding slowly in a tall gear. This has caught me out a couple of times, stalling the bike in the middle of traffic, the engine then refusing to start until the plug was removed and cleaned or replaced.

Another idiosyncrasy was throttle cables that seize up at full bore and send the engine screaming up into the red until the ignition switch is hurriedly knocked off... the routing of the cable is tortuous and however much grease is slipped in they seem to dry up after 5000 miles. After it happened the second time I always took the precaution of replacing the cable every 4000 miles.

Five minutes on the bike will reveal that there isn't much power below 5000rpm, so it pays to scream around in second or third in town. A certain quantity of blue smoke always follows the machine and the banshee wail from the exhaust (it having been modified by the first owner) turns heads and has even been known to have fists shaken at me. Myself, I love the noise the Gilera makes. The modified silencer may be the cause of a slight stutter that appears around 3000rpm, but this is not a great problem as the lack of power at lowish revs means it's hardly ever encountered.

Power starts to disappear when the rev counter edges past 8000rpm, the engine is certainly not wildly tuned for a stroker, giving out about thirty horses. Unfortunately, the gearbox balks at rapid changes, being clunky and vague even when new oil is used. With 28000 miles on the clock, third and fourth have become very temperamental, slipping out of gear, sending the engine revs soaring and frightening me half to death on occasions when the NGR is banked over. The sudden loss of traction sends the back wheel skipping off.

Precise riding is not helped by the clutch, which uses a hydraulic system that is so abrupt my early take-offs resulted in either an embarrassing stall or a massive wheelie. I have become used to it, but combined with the lack of low rev power it is not a machine I could recommend to someone wanting to move on from, say, a CG125.

Top speed is around the ton. However, I have caned the Gilera along the motorway at anything up to 95mph without the engine showing any signs of such blatant abuse. Even fuel economy remained reasonable at around 55mpg, although it sometimes went just below 50mpg. The best I managed was 61mpg, but I suspect it is possible to do around 70mpg cruising at moderate speeds, although I was never able to contain the boredom for long enough to verify this.

Vibration had a minimal effect on the chassis, the bit of a buzz around 6000rpm was so slight that | soon became used to it. Much more likely to inhibit travelling any great distance was the seat which turned intrusively hard after only 50 miles. This exacerbated by the ultra stiff suspension that would only have made a Ducati single aficionado happy. The front forks were so stiff that the action of the anti-dive was hardly discernible even under the massive braking power available from the Gilera’s discs.

Pad life was another story as they wore out in an incredible 4500 miles... perhaps, a reflection on the cut and thrust riding style the little Wop needed to keep it travelling rapidly. Mirrored, unfortunately, by the chain, which if it lasted more than 5000 miles was a cause for celebration. However, the Pirelli tyres sort of made up for that, lasting 12k front and 11k rear.

My initial riding impressions of the bike were a bit weird. The Gilera feels both tall and slim to sit on, whilst the tautness of both the suspension and frame gave an impression of twitchiness. I soon found, however, that although the chassis always felt lively it would hold its line well in most circumstances. Weighing around 300lbs, it was dead easy to chuck around corners and could be flicked in and out of gaps in traffic with an ease that I later came to recognise as sinister.

After two weeks I had become very confident in my mastery of the machine. The combination of being able to stop on a dime, unnatural flickability and urgent power if you used more than 5000 revs had me riding through the heavy London traffic at insane speeds. The cagers didn't know what was hitting them.

All too literally as it turned out when an Escort Turbo decided to do a sudden U turn. Even then it wasn't a complete disaster. In the all too few yards available I was able to stomp on the brakes and flick the machine sideways. The impact with the auto did more damage to the car than my bike. I had already noted that the GRP was developing hairline cracks so a few bigger ones didn’t seem to matter and were easily fixed with GRP filler. The indicators were another matter and I had to dump them, only getting around to replacing them with some ubiquitous Kawasaki items when offered a set for a fiver. (I suspect the vendor had pulled them off some poor sod’s parked motorcycle).

After that incident I did begin to see some sense and use the machine in a more appropriate manner to modern road conditions. I still reckon I was one of the fastest riders around through heavy traffic, though. The only place the Gilera became unmanageable was when crossing windswept bridges, the Severn being a particularly nasty example which had the bike banked over at 45 degrees to the wind and skipping all over the place when cars, bridge pillars and the like temporarily interfered with the balance I was trying to achieve with the wild, howling gale.

The NGR should have been ideal for back road rambling but the very stiffness of its suspension meant the rider took the kind of battering to arms and shoulders that was more akin to enduro riders flinging their machines off the side of mountains. Even after 28000 miles neither end showed the least sign of an improvement in compliance, the only good thing being there was so little movement there was no point worrying about any deterioration in damping.  There was no reason why I could not have spent some time and money improving matters, but I'm a lazy bugger and preferred suffering to effort.

In a similar vein, I thought nothing of loading up the Gilera and taking off for a 2000 mile tour of the UK. The machine gave no problems, but my arms and backside were well sore for the duration. Some glimmer of the abilities of the bike can be gained from the revelation that it stayed with an 350YPVS all the time down the Scottish back roads. On surfaces that had the Yamaha all over the place, the Gilera maintained such a precise line that I could plot my way around either the outside or inside of my opponent. Only on the straights did his machine have the ability to disappear off into the distance, but in the Highlands the straights were vastly outnumbered by the wild curves.

This fine handling went to pot at around 21000 miles when the swinging arm bearings went. They were rapidly followed by wheel and steering head bearings, but I found replacements at the local bearing factors and have had no problems since. General finish is pretty despicable. I soon became tired of cleaning the bike only to find that it was covered in crud after an hour’s ride, so I just left it to itself, save for a yearly bout of guilt when huge quantities of Gunk and a jet wash get it looking almost respectable even so, for a three year old bike it is not very impressive in appearance. Even so, I think it's great! 

Dickie Williams